OP restructures fire and police, salaries, benefits

Published 9:38 am, Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Olmos Park officials are reorganizing their police and fire departments and employee benefits, hoping to make the city more competitive with similarly sized cities regarding operational efficiency and pay scales.

The rearrangements involve the elimination of two fire department positions through attrition, and converting an administrative police position into a patrol position.

The city will also have to find a permanent police chief while a retired FBI and Air Force special agent serves there on an interim basis.

In preparing Olmos Park's fiscal year 2013 budget, City Manager Mike Simpson said automatic aid agreements and joint training opportunities with the Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills fire departments have enabled Olmos Park's firefighters to purge two positions with no drop in fire protection.

Until now, Olmos Park has been able to have five firefighters on each of the current three shifts.

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Simpson and Fire Chief Linc Surber said the automatic aid pacts and joint training among the three area cities will allow Olmos Park to keep providing safe, effective levels of fire protection with 14 total personnel — including the fire chief — instead of 16.

In a presentation before City Council Aug. 15, Surber also said the availability of a compressed air foam system, present on a fire truck the city bought last year, enhances his department's fire suppression capabilities.

The system reduces the amount of heat in a burning structure, providing a safer fire-fighting environment in a shorter timeframe.

“We get great advantages from the training with the two other cities and with this air foam system,” Simpson told council in another meeting Aug. 16.

He takes over for Fred Solis, who retired Aug. 15 after more than three years as chief.

“We've been friends. We've shared some time together,” Solis said of Bohne in an interview with a reporter.

“I hope he has a smooth transition. Fritz has been known and respected in the local law enforcement community and I give him my full support.”

Solis himself accumulated more than 30 years of law enforcement experience prior to his arrival in Olmos Park, primarily with the San Antonio Police Department.

“Being here, it's been quite a personal challenge,” Solis said of his transitioning from San Antonio's large law enforcement agency to the smaller, more intimate one in Olmos Park.

“Coming from a large to a small agency, I had to adjust with the available resources,” he added.

Solis said he and his colleagues made strides during his tenure as chief, including updating the police department's communications, revamping personnel policies and procedures, and upgrading mobile data terminals and on-board cameras on police vehicles.

“(Solis) did a lot of work establishing new policies and procedures within the department,” Simpson said in an interview with a reporter. “I wish him the best of luck.”

The local police force recently saw one sergeant depart for a job with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office, and another officer is scheduled to leave the agency.

Simpson said Bohne is becoming familiar with the department's needs before replacing departing personnel.

“(Bohne) will help build the department the way we want it built,” Simpson told council Aug. 16.

The city manager added in an email that the extra patrolman, a former lieutenant's position, will give the chief “flexibility to ‘surge' resources when needed, while maintaining a smooth flow of information to the council and support to the policemen, and therefore, to the citizens.”

Solis recently was criticized by a few residents regarding the department's response to a rash of vehicular burglaries.

“Olmos Park has been and remains an overall safe place,” Solis said. “Unfortunately, we've been part of an overall criminal trend in metropolitan San Antonio.”

“The good news is, that we've identified suspects and captured much of the stolen property,” Solis continued about the burglaries. “I assure you, the effort has been there.”

Earlier this spring after a major car accident at the city's oft-hit roundabout, then-council members asked about the police department's ability to enhance patrols along McCullough Avenue.

Back then, Solis replied it had been hard to bolster police presence on McCullough with two-man shifts. Given that and the time it takes for Olmos Park police to process an arrestee's paperwork in downtown San Antonio, following state law, the local police force could only do so much, he explained.

But Solis added his officers had been handing out a significant number of citations for speeding and other moving violations on McCullough. He also said the department could always benefit from an expansion in the workforce.

Spring turned into summer, and city officials became more aware of concerns firefighters were voicing about turnover in their department, as well as employees pay and benefits across the board.

As a result, council appointed an employee compensation committee, which revealed its findings and recommendations Aug. 15.

The panel established a small market salary midpoint comparable with similarly sized cities and suggested raising employees' salaries anywhere from 3 percent to 18 percent depending on the position.

The panel added a 401a and 457 retirement plan that offers up to a 3 percent dollar-for-dollar match by the city. These two new retirement options complement the city's pension plan offered through the Texas Municipal Retirement System in which every city worker currently participates.

The committee also proposed raising the amount the city contributes to the employees' Health Savings Account by more than 15 percent. This is in addition to paying for 100 percent of a worker's premium and funding 40 percent of his/her dependent's premium.

“We wanted to increase fairness in benefits in terms of longevity, responsibilities and performance,” committee member and Councilman Enzo Pellegrino said Aug. 15.

Council approved applying the committee's plan toward the FY13 budget, which will see approval in early September. A public hearing is set for 4 p.m. Sept. 4 at City Hall.

According to draft figures, the permanent police chief would see a 13.6 percent base salary increase in a 12-officer department. All other officers would see raises in an average range of 3 percent to more than 6 percent.

In the 14-firefighter fire department, the chief would see a 14.3 percent base pay hike while the assistant chief would see a 13.5 percent increase. All other firefighters would see raises in an average range of 6.4 percent to 12.6 percent.

Public works and administrative positions, including the city manager, also would see base salary raises. According to the committee's findings, the new base salaries would total $1.58 million; the approved budget payroll totals $1.61 million. This would yield a $23,564 surplus.

“It's nice to be able to reward such great employees even in difficult financial times,” Simpson said in a news release, as local officials acknowledged other governmental entities are mulling cuts in personnel spending.

He expressed confidence that the police department's new leadership, the fire department's new service strategy and technology, and the compensation improvements will upgrade the city's ability to recruit and retain quality, experienced public safety personnel, and other city workers.

The city will educate employees on details in the benefit plans. The compensation committee will monitor the employees' pay situation with an eye toward maintaining and improving the new benefits.

Meanwhile, Solis plans to stay busy for the foreseeable future. He'll continue teaching criminal justice at the University of the Incarnate Word and working with the U.S. Department of State in training law enforcement personnel elsewhere in the world.